Finding a Place to Stand
by jfrost22792
Summary: An impossible child, born from the union of a Dwarven King and a Elven Servant, Garren tries to struggle through a world where his existence in an anomaly that many would rather see snuffed out. In his struggles he finds something to reach for, the Dwarves once held a grand empire, spanning the breathe of Thedas, now he may reclaim piece a of that, if he is willing to pay the price


**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the copyrighted material.**

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"Well what do we have here?"

"A piece of casteless trash wormed its way up from Dust Town it seems."

The two guards enclose around me, pushing me back against the wall. "Please" I manage out as a whisper, the guards were much larger than me. I was only reached my sixth year and could barely reach their waists. "I need to see my papa, mama's got the cough and no one down their will help her without coin first." One of the guards laugh, a man with brown skin, black hair, and hard eyes. The other guard at least seems to take me seriously, but the look of pity in his eyes only makes me more afraid of what would happen to her if they sent me back down.

"And who would your father be, some casteless rat that put you in your whore of a mothers belly then ran for the surface." I could feel the anger in me start to rise up, mama always said I got my daddies temper. I had to find him quickly though, they said mama wasn't going to last much longer without help.

"Mama said he was Aeducan, I don't know what that means, but mama said he was, so that's what I need to find." The guards went silent, their faced turning from ones of pity and contempt to blank masks as they processed my words. I was going to ask if they could tell me where to find him when the back of the scary guards hand smashed me upside the head. I was thrown to the ground and nearly bounced as I a slammed into the stone wall of the building behind me. The other guards grabbed the shoulder of the man who had struck me.

"This isn't for us to decide."

The angry guard looks at his companion with a nearly gabbing mouth, "You think this half-breed piece of filth," he motions to where I am still lying stunned on the ground. "is an Aeducan?"

"I think that this is above our positions, and that we should take care not to lose our heads, I would much prefer to keep mine attached." The angry guard seems to cool slightly at the notion, he looks back at me and I could see the hate mingled with his disgust.

"We'll take him to the kings second and let him settle this." He walks over to me and holds out a hand, "Up you go boy."

I take the hand after staring at it like a deerstalker ready to take a bite. He pulls me up to my feet and then places me beside him, he whispers, "Try not to draw attention to yourself, we'll be going through the Diamond Quarter and there's plenty like my friend here walking about there." I nod and he gives me a small encouraging smile.

He pulls off the cloak around his shoulders and wraps it around me, covering me from head to toe and still length enough left to scrape across the ground as we walked. "You'll never get that clean again you know. That little rat is covered in whatever filth he brought up from Dust Town, and now so is your cloak."

I stared to shrug off the cloak, the man was being nice to me and I didn't want to get his things dirty. I was trying not to cry, I know I was dirty, but we had little enough water left to drink, let alone wash with. I hadn't even got the cloak off before the guard places his hand on my head and I look up to see his gentle smirk.

"I have more than the one, and it will make the trip an easier one, so keep it on and your head covered."

I nod as we continue on our way through the Commons, I had only ever been up here with mama once to sell some of the knitting she had done. The merchants called me a brand and refused to trade with her while I was there, she had to have me wait over by another building to get the merchant to talk. I still remember mama crying when he got home, she just held me and kept telling me she was sorry.

The Commons took us more than an hour to walk across, my feet were tired by the time we got to the stairs that lead to the Diamond Quarter. "Remember" the kinder of the guards said, "Keep your face hidden."

We walked up what felt like an endless stair case before we saw the archway the marked the entrance into the Diamond district, I had heard the stories about this place around the fire in the part of Dust Town where mama and I lived.

They had said it was a beautiful place. That it sparkled like glittering jewels. I didn't know what a jewel was, but I could almost imagine what one must look like now. The buildings were taller than any I had ever seen, carved into the very stone, sporting beautiful sculptures and pictures on their walls. The street was lines in a gleaming red stone and all around me people were dressed in the most beautiful clothes I had ever seen.

I had seen places like this in my dreams, but never while awake. I would have thought I was dreaming, but the people in my dreams were always kind and one of the guards was anything but. Mama said never to mention my dreams though, she said dwarves aren't supposed to dream so I must have taken more after her. She looked so sad when I told her about them that I never mentioned them again after that.

"We're here" the friendly guard looked like he was unsure of what to do next. "This was your idea" the angry guard bit out, "you should be the one to tell Lord Harrowmont that your brought this little rat into the royal palace."

"Is there a reason you're just standing in front of the palace when you should be out patrolling guardsmen?"

I turned around to see a man clad in shining armor, his face was grim and the guards beside me shuffled nervously. When the guards failed to responded in the momentary shock, the man next to the one in shining armor called out.

"Trian asked you a question guardsman, surely standing there and gawking at us all day isn't the best you can come up with." The young man who spoke had an amused smirk on his face, seemingly please with the way the guards sputtered again before nodding and trying to answer.

"My apologies Prince Trian, Prince Bhelen, we found a casteless child wondering around the Commons." He motioned to me, I pulled the borrowed cloak tighter around myself. The people the guards had called Princes were glaring at me now, the one in the shining armor though, his eyes were just like the cruel guards.

"You would bring this…this…trash, to the doors of the royal palace?" There was rage in his voice, he seemed to be nearly shaking with it as he yelled at the guards.

The two guardsmen dropped to a knee on the beautiful red stone street, "My apologies Prince Trian, the boy claimed to have been sired by an Aeducan." The kind guard seemed to be sweating a great deal now, I knew that look, I got it every time mama catches me talking to the men with daggers and sword that hang around the corners near the house. "We thought it above our position to decide the truth of his words, we were bringing him to the King's Second."

"He does look sort of familiar brother, though why a male Aeducan child would be branded…"

The one the guard had called Trian, the man with the cruel eyes, wretches me closer, and with a look of thorough disgust, drags the cloak down from around my head. His eyes take in my appearance for a moment, before his cold eyes seem to light with a sort of understanding. He flings me back, sending me tumbling to the ground, he lets out a snort of derision as he wipes his hand dramatically on Bhelen's shoulder.

"I know who the little Brand is" Trian turns toward the man named Bhelen and sneers, "remember that elf servant father bought off that Ferelden noble, I heard he left a bastard in the knife-ear before she up and vanished."

"You don't mean?" Bhelen looked at me like he didn't quite know what it was he was he should do next, Trian's words were just settling in me too, they were my brothers, but if they were my family, then why do I feel so afraid?

"He and Kalin have grandfathers Emerald eyes, never been another Dwarf in Orzammar that he could have gotten them from but father, though he has the whore's knife-ears." His hand waves towards me dismissively, I don't know what the name the keep calling mama means, but I don't like it.

"Don't call mama bad names! Mama says it only makes you mean!"

The resounding crack echoes off of the stone and draws the attention of every passerby, I could taste the coppery tinge of blood in my mouth as I lay on the stone street in shock.

"Brother!" Bhelen seems to try and restrain Trian from going after me by grabbing his arm, Trian just shrugs him off and before I get the chance to stand, he kicks me hand in the gut. The guardsmen turn away as he kicks me three more times before spits on me as he finally moves away.

"Take this filth, and toss it back where it belongs." He steps around me, likely not wanting to get his boots soiled in the blood I had coughed up, or the puddle growing around me from where I wet myself during the beating. "Come Bhelen"

The sound of their steps echo away from me as I curl into myself, trying my best to make the pain go away.

"Is he still alive?" The mean guard from earlier asks, though his voice sounds much softer now, like he was afraid of even asking the question.

I feel a hand touch my neck, I freeze up as I wait for the pain to start again. I can't help the whimpering as the hand doesn't leave, "I just wanted to help mama". My voice comes out broken through my sobs, I had just wanted to help her. How's mama going to get better now?

I feel the cloak the kind guard had given me wrapped around me as I'm lifted up from the ground, I whimper more as the motion hurts my already damaged body.

"It'll be alright, we'll see you home now little Aeducan."

It's the kind guard's voice. My body releases some of the tension when I figure I'm safe from the other horrible man.

My brother…

Mama said family is supposed to protect and care for each other, but brothers are supposed to be family and he hurt me instead.

I must have been in a daze, because the next thing I heard was the kind guard's voice trying to draw my attention. I look up to his sad eyes as he sets me down on the ground, I know this area, it's the entrance back into Dust Town.

"I'm sorry little one, but we've been gone from out patrol to long already. We won't be able to see you back any further than this." I nod at the kind guard and stand up from the floor on my shaky legs. I was about to turn away towards Dust Town when the kind guards voice halted my steps.

"You said you needed to help your mother right?"

I nod to the kind guard, his face seems pinched as if trying to work out a difficult problem.

"Your wife will hang your balls above our hearth if you do it." The mean guard's voice is tight as he speaks, though there sounds like a bit of teasing in it as well.

"What's your name little Aeducan, I don't think any of us ever thought to ask?"

I stare up at him for a long moment, than I feel a bit of chagrin at my lack of manners, mama always says I have to remember my manners.

Was brother mean because I forgot my manners? The others weren't as mean as him, not even the mean guard, and I had forgotten my manners with all of them as well.

"I'm Garren Mahariel sir" I bow my head a bit as mama taught me. The kind guard chuckles a bit as he ruffles my hair with his gauntleted hand.

He takes my hand and upturns it, placing a small leather coin purse into it. "Well Garren Mahariel, I believe you should be on your way home now."

I stare at the small bag in my hand for what feels like a lifetime before I realize what it means, I could help mama now. I though my arms around the kind guards waist, I can't stop the stream of tears and thanks that escape me before he chuckles again and gently extracts me from himself.

"You should hurry one now child, and make sure no one in Dust Town see's that purse until you get home alright." I nod furiously before I take off toward home, the small bag of coins clutched to my chest so no one can see.

My body hurts more and more with every passing step, I had to go tell mama that we could get a healer now. Mama's good with coin, maybe there's enough that she won't have to skip meals now, I hate when she has to do that. She thinks I don't see, but she's been getting skinnier and skinnier lately, and now the cough won't leave her.

I was hobbling now, struggling to forward each step to make it home. Suddenly the ground rushes up to meet me as I'm shoved into a side alley between some of the larger makeshift homes.

"Well, well, what do we have here."

I look up to see two men, each in dusty leathers, dirt crusted on their faces, though I could still see their narrowed eyes locked on the purse I had clutched to my chest. I tried to clutch it tighter to my chest as I sat up, the dirtier of the men quickly drew a dagger from his back and placed it against my skin.

The coldness of the steel sent a shiver down my spine.

"Give over the coin boy, and we might even let you run on home to mommy." There was a vicious hate in his voice, I tried to shack my head no, but the blade had been to close and I could feel my warm blood dripping down my neck now.

"I need the coin to help mama, please let me go!" I could feel the tears running down my face as I begged the dirty man.

He smiled kindly, then he pressed the blades edge harder into my throat, my breathing was rapid under the blade, and every breathe left me with more blood running over the daggers edge and down my skin.

"The coin boy, I don't need to let you live to take it, you know. See, aren't I kind?" He opens his hand and waits for me to give it over.

I can't…if I give him the coin, then what happens to mama?

I can feel it welling up in me, the place he cut me letting more and more blood through. Mama had told me it was dangerous if other people new about it, that I should only do it I was in danger. It felt stronger now though, with the blood running over my skin almost singing with it.

I reach for it, the song of the blood running over my skin. I want the man away from me, and I push out with it as hard as I can.

I can see the man's eyes widen, I can see awe and fear in them as he mouths the word, "Magic".

They're thrown against the walls of the buildings beside us, the horrible sounds of cracking echo around me. The dirty men don't fall to the ground, their bodies embedded into the stone of the walls they had been forced into.

I hadn't meant to hurt them, their empty eyes stared down at me, their mouths open as if they had tried to scream…they hadn't had the time to make a sound.

I just wanted them to leave me alone, I just wanted to get to mama and tell her she could get better now. I was so tired though, I tried to stand, to get away from the hollow looks of horror the two dead men were giving me. I had barely made it too my feet when I came crashing down, the world slipping away from me.

* * *

I had never felt so comfortable, the softness wasn't anything like the thin mats me and mama slept on at home. My eyes open slowly, my breath catches as I take in the sight. A room made of smooth white stone that seemed to glitter in the bright torch light, there didn't seem to be a door, just the strange walls.

"Hello child"

I whip around and see a strange woman sitting on a chair that hadn't previously been there. The lady was strange, her skin didn't look…right. It was a purple color like I had seen mama use to sow before. A light of the torches seemed to dance around her, though the walls didn't seem to glitter where she touched.

The strange lady had two horns, a bright purple flame burned around the crown of her head. "What are you?"

The strange lady looked shocked for a moment, her lips turned up in a delighted smirk. "I felt your power through the fade, the first use of blood magic always lights the way, though most seek out one of my kind to gain the power and skill in the first place. To find one so young, and yet powerful enough to draw the magic out of your own blood through nothing more than instinct, you will be a remarkable one little child of the stone."

"Where are we? I have to get to mama." I sprung from the bed and, while keeping a distance from her, looked around the room for an escape.

"You will find no exit little one, this is not your world, though it is your dream. You have awoken into the fade, the realm where you mortals travel in yours dream. Though mages like yourself have a greater connection to the fade, and an ability to interact with the denizens beyond the Veil, such as myself." She walked over to me, a small smile on her face the whole while, and knelt before me.

"There is something wrong with your mother child?" The lady smiled kindly, her hand reaching up and stroking the side of my face affectionately.

"Mama's sick…the bad men tried to take the coin to make her better" I felt the tears starting to well up, the images of the men's hollow eyes staring back at me.

"I can help you with that if you'd like, little child of stone."

"Really?"

I brightened at the thought, someone else to help mama get better. Maybe with both the strange lady and the coin from the kind guard the cough would go away for good this time.

"Yes, we'll have to see what I can do when we see her." She runs her hand through my hair, drawing herself closer to my side. "I have to give you something first before I can come with you though, you used the power in your blood through instinct, but I'll give you the knowledge to use it by your own will. Do you agree little one?"

I nod eagerly, I needed to get to mama. She leans in, places her lips to my head, a great warmth spreads over me as countless thoughts flood through my mind. Memories of…"blood magic" the new memories provide the name.

The warmth continues to spread, and then I hear the strange lady gasp. She throws herself back from me, shock and horror flashing across her face. Staggering back, the strange lady trembles and the fire around her crown sputters and flashes out.

"No…no! What are you doing? What's happening?"

Her purple skin is fading to an ashy white, then the cracks start appearing on her, she falls to her knees, shaking her head and crying out in fear.

Walls around me start to shimmer, flashing and shining brighter and brighter, then in a flash and blinding glow the lady disappears. I can feel an incredible energy writhing in me, filling me from head to toes. My skin feels like its crawling, the warmth slowly fades, but I still feel like there's…more of me, now.

The walls tremble, and then the room around me fades away, I open my eyes and I'm back in the alley way. I slowly sit up and take in the alley, the men I had…killed, were still stuck into the walls. Their skin had turned blue, I stood slowly, my legs shacking as I tried not to fall back down.

Blood, I can feel the magic stirring in my veins, humming in a soft song and letting me know the power is there for me. It feels wrong, not the magic, but the thoughts of how to us it. The strange lady wasn't just a dream? Can I ask mama about the strange lady, or will it only make her sad again?

"Mama!" I had forgotten for a moment, I took off again, it was easier to move now, my body doesn't hurt like it had before the lady. She said she would come with me to help mama, but I don't know where she went.

Our small home comes into view, pressed up against the back of a large piece of falling stone. I raced through the old door, and into the room me and mama shared in the small house.

"Mama!"

I call out, letting her know that I was home with good news. I run into the room with a smile, she was sleeping like just like when I had left.

"Mama, the kind guard gave me enough coin to get a healer, and the strange lady said she would help, but she wasn't there when I woke up, I hope she'll get here soon enough though."

Mama didn't stir when I called out to her, she had been coughing badly through the night, she was probably just sleeping. I walked over, crawling next to her, shaking her awake lightly, hoping she'll wake quickly.

"Mama?"

I touched her hands, she was clutching the necklace she was making for me, hundreds of stone beads, each carved into the shape of an animals I had only heard of from mama's stories, deer, hawks, wolves, and rabbits chasing after each other.

Her hands were cold though, I looked over her face, she was like the men in the alley earlier, her skin had a horrible blue hew. "Mama…"

I shake her harder, mama couldn't be like them, the bad men were dead, and mama couldn't be dead. I had gotten the coin, and the healers said that mama would be fine if I got the coin, so mama couldn't be dead.

"Mama, please get up"


End file.
